Ask A Farewell to Arms

[Carrick]

Finally.

The war against the Hutts seemed to be drawing to a close at long last. It had started off very well for the ISC indeed and they had kept up the momentum for a time due to the fractured nature of the Hutt cartels and their leadership. Unfortunately, the ISC had been a victim of its own success almost as they had launched some truly decapitating strikes to the primary operations and leadership of the Hutts... only to then realize that there were none within the cartels who maintained enough control and influence to actually agree to a peace agreement.

Occupying all of Hutt space had been discussed as an option and thrown out entirely as being unreasonable. It was technically possible but it would have cost so much in the way of material and credits that it wouldn't have been worth it on a purely pragmatic point. Worse, the sheer size and scale of the corruption on said worlds would have simply manipulated the occupying forces until they were as ineffective as the Empire's hold had been over the Hutts in the distant past.

In the end the best solution was to occupy key planets and secure a peace weighted in favour of the ISC with the remainder of Hutt space... which brought back the first problem of a lack of true leadership within the Cartels to actually engage with.

Now, it seemed, that had changed.

The meeting had been set for Lannik, a more neutral ground but one with an ISC fleet now hovering over it and ISC marines securing the building they were to use for talks. Carrick had come alone into the room aside for a protocol droid to provide refreshments - the Hutt he was to meet had been told that the condition of the talks was the same. He could bring guards to the meeting but all guards stayed outside as it would be a meeting between just the two of them and a droid who's mind could be wiped.

Just in case the discussion veered into the realms of the publicly unsavoury.

@Nor'baal

 

[Nor'baal Desilijic]

Nor'baal was surprised it had come to this. With the detention of Gareth, and the death of the Hutt, Durr, the new incumbent, Nor'baal, was disappointed that the war had not ended. The perpetrators gone, it had appeared to Nor'baal that the ISC had achieved what it set out to achieve.

As such, when the Syndicate fleet element dropped out of Hyperspace, and a collection of mercenaries and droids, as well as sworn guards to the clans, secured the meeting place alongside the ISC marines, Nor'baal was confident the talks would go well.

His Yacht broke away from the hull of the capitol vessel he had come with, and sailed to the meeting place. Nor'baal made his way from there under his own power, with only a protocol unit in tow. As he entered the room, he looked the Consortium representative up and down, trying to ascertain if the two of them had met before.

He drew up a blank.

<Baphakoha, bu Benbepoka doth kolka da mee Masetkoha gee douaph bunno bantkoke non an patka panwuepka. Jeejee gee uai bankop wa pocda pankhopka che mee pantebaha.> Nor'baal greeted the man, handing him physical copy of the deal as he did so.

Spoiler: The Treaty

Agreement for Bringing Peace between the Independent Systems Consortium and the Five Syndicates, and associates thereof.​

A comprehensive peace agreement is made of three parts:

1. Cessation of hostilities between the Independent Systems Consortium and the Five Syndicates.
2. Guarantees of new relations between the Independent Systems Consortium and the Five Syndicates.
3. Transitional arrangements to ensure the smooth passage of the Peace deal.

Part One

The Independent Sytems Consortium and the Five Syndicates agree to a complete cessation of hostilities between them, including but not limited to the end of military intervention and movements of an aggressive nature toward one another, and the halting of aggressive actions within Consortium Space against Syndicate members.

Part Two

• The Independent Sytems Consortium and the Five Syndicates agree to the opening of a single embassy within the Capitals of each nation no less than three weeks after the signing of the deal.
• The Independent Sytems Consortium agree to return the Kessel Sector, immediately, to the control of the Five Syndicates.
• The Five Syndicates agree to outlaw the 'Zaa Fenn' from operating with their consent and permission and declare them to no longer be members of the Five Syndicates.

Part Three

The Independent Sytems Consortium and the Five Syndicates agree to the terms of this agreement being completed no later than one month after the date of its signing.

 

[Carrick]

He was glad that one of his many aides back at headquarters had thought to tell him if he had ever met this particular Hutt before. It might be terrible of him to admit but he had never had much luck telling Hutts apart from one another. Without really distinct features, such as scars or robotic limbs, they all looked largely the same to him... and he could already tell he was going to need to attend the next HR workshop because of that thought.

"Let's hope that both of our peoples can walk away from further death and destruction. The war was hard fought - let us make the peace worth the cost."

Being handed a draft of the treaty was nice though he was certain that it would need to be amended. No one walked, or slid, into a negotiation with a prepared agreement that didn't favour their side... unless that side was incredibly aware that they were losing.

He doubted the Cartels had that much self awareness - he didn't.

Reading through it, Carrick reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his most frequently used weapons as a secretary of defence - a highlighter. He underlined one part in particular immediately.

"This part here? 'The halting of aggressive actions within Consortium Space against Syndicate members'? Not going to happen as it is currently worded." he pointed out as he sat back slightly, "As it is currently, you would essentially demand your agents have free reign to break our laws, in our space, and agree to not chase and charge them according to our laws. I would suggest it is amended that 'the Consortium shall take no aggressive actions to Syndicate members within Consortium space without proof or compelling evidence of lawbreaking'."

He would cease all attacks on the members for the 'crime' of simply being Syndicate members but he'd be damned if the Consortium tied itself in legal knots making sure it could not act against lawbreakers.

He underlined Kessel.

"The Kessel Sector remains under ISC control. This is something the leadership of the ISC feels very strongly about." he tapped the side of his copy, "However. We would propose allowing the Hutt cartels to charge tariffs to allow the ISC transports safe passage through Hutt space. Trade along the routes also being encouraged. Piracy against said transports being cause to allow those transports to then be protected by an ISC fleet. Which will be allowed to fire upon any and all aggressors with impunity."

The spice would flow after all.

He let it rest there, to allow his counterpart to digest his counter proposals.

@Nor'baal

 

[Nor'baal Desilijic]

Nor'baal nodded empathetically as Carrick made his counter-proposals for the first part of the talks known. The Hutt was not so foolish as to think that the Consortium would have just accepted their proposals straight off of the bat, of course, and was prepared to meet them in the middle on some areas. <Bu douban fen kae hhinpah doi tee pacmhan see jaha, Baphakoha. Boukecoh, haku bu Pantahlea chemant bai doth kouuaze, bu Benbepoka cha.> Nor'baal replied, keen to explain his viewpoint to his fellow negotiator <Mee bisatka hocan doth bashodue.>

Nor'baal narrowed his eyes slightly when the Consortium representative underline Kessel on the treaty. Regardless of how strongly the leadership of the Consortium felt about the world, the Syndicates felt much stronger.

<Jee panwata, Dobra panwiya peee bai wonkee bu Pantahlea bancaie nai bai pankhai bu danko? Mee bakopa dah bu planeeto doth daniaua wa jedaheu catke cohka tytung. In ting hee, wa ganky cetka caiot doth see fah. Bu Lanka lwaa nobata janse woy boya see Bpuoiaee dah bu planeeto joppay jeejee bimapa pankhai see Pattee bonee wagan cuee.> Nor'baal retorted, eager to keep his eye on the objective - returning Kessel to the hands of the Syndicate.

The Hutt did not much care if spice flowed from a Consortium world. Such a matter was trivial, he cared about restoring the integrity of 'Hutt Space', and that was something the reintegration of Kessel would be key to.

 

[Carrick]

Of course his suggestion was agreeable - he was a firm believer that ignorance of the law did not mean immunity from prosecution for breaking it. They both knew that it was a weak excuse at the best of times anyway. ISC laws were fairly typically pretty straight forward because there were no special allowances for Jedi or Sith as there were in the Empire or other political institutions. Everyone was equal in the eyes of ISC laws.

Probably why the Hutts disliked them.

"Glad we could come to an understanding on that point." he agreed graciously before taking a sip of some water the serving droid brought him, "I would hate for it to become an issue further down the line."

Carrick thought about the comments on Kessel for a moment before letting out a slow breath.

"Kessel is a licence to print money and high-grade medical supplies when managed well. Right now it is a mixture of a droid workforce and a free-men sentient control force and it is churning out more product than it has ever done. It is a boon to the economies of both of our collectives as it stands." he reasoned with a small smile, "Kessel in the hands of the ISC just works - its as simple as that. Under the control of the Pykes? The Hutts? It was a pit to throw away political enemies for a mediocre return on 'investment'."

His smile hardened.

"No. Kessel remains with the ISC - we were willing to battle for it before and its timely surrender and acceptance of ISC law and sovereignty were the only reason we didn't. I hope we can move past this point."

Left unsaid was that they would be willing to fight to keep it as well. After all, the Kessel sector had some of the largest concentration of ISC armed forces in the Galaxy. Pirate attacks had been driven out almost entirely as the Navy and marines did their best to stay sharp during the down-turn in open hostilities with the Hutts.

@Nor'baal

 

[Nor'baal Desilijic]

Nor'baal was quite aware that the man was lying to him. He knew it was not 'medicine' the Consortium extracted from Kessel, just as much as the other man knew it was not 'medicine' that Nor'baal would extract should he see Kessel returned. <Bu Pykes doth koutoze bai cahcata Pattee bai woi hee pacwahh. Dobra ree koumuaee kolka bai neu bu Pantahlea pacmhan juju wonka.> the Hutt replied, unhappy with the arrangement, but keen to explore other avenues of getting what he wanted.

<Dobra gahke da, che heai jansee peai Pattee ah youngee metpa bai bu Pantahlea, kuna kee gahkesa fa doth tee ye wanya catke cohka.> a plan already forming in his twisted mind so as to ensure the profits the Consortium extracted from Kessel, soon dried up.

Moving on to the next part of the treaty, Hutt smiled. Zaa Fenn had been the de facto cause of this conflict, and it was a deep pleasure of his to ensure they were no longer factored into the equation. <Bu Zaa Fenn. Bankop tee janu bu bakopa doth cahka doptkee dah twa winbocanh, jeejee doth bla twa kanwuee matka kouuanseu hocan bancaie, la doth du amahola. Peee hee, bu Benbepoka chamana, peee wa uuateua cohka see tah bargon, da jeejee eeth koumhoiag bai saptkhe. Haku bu Fenn woy bai nai kachu tah panwuepka tee caie doth cahcata bai cot tacohpeke, an hee jeejee lwaa whoma hoohah doi bu momahka dee Benbepoka an koumuanola twa lumpa don fa, doppomka twa catabola, ban masohba see peee fa koee doth boonowa, an banang twa kacdy bai nobata janse doth bohdon dee Benbepoka.> he remarked.

 

[Carrick]

"The spice will flow and profits will flow through it." [/B]he assured the Hutt, "We jealously guard that which we value after all."

Zaa Fenn.

The scapegoat, the masterminds or the targets of righteous fury. Or maybe a mixture of all three? He had taken great delight in seeing their influence and their work be undone over the last few years. Even if it was rather shocking that they had turned so readily to terrorism... to such a degree. Terrorism was expected but poisoning and entire planet was one a scale that even the Hutts couldn't tolerate and it showed.

"Burn them out of your history and your ranks - or you'll find that there are plenty of people within the wider Galaxy who would love to do it for you." he told the Hutt with a deep frown, "Any legitimately-owned legal businesses within ISC space we will allow to transfer ownership to other people. We will still, however, expect those people to obey ISC laws as per my first point. If we find Zaa Fenn assets and destroy them, however, we shall reap the rewards."

If Zaa Fenn had used a casino to launder money out of Tatooine? The ISC was fine with the casino continuing under new management but it would be monitored to make sure that was all it did. After all, there were credits in legal vices - greed might see the two sides come to blows again.

"Do you have any other conditions?"

@Nor'baal

 

[Nor'baal Desilijic]

All things considered, Nor'baal was having a hard time finding more ways to be disagreeable. Carrick was sticking to the line the Hutts had anticipated he would take, and, with the Clans having attended the meeting with a pre-written deal, they had made good progress.

<Zaa Fenn chespo wa kenog che janse biweoo, bai tytung ten. Tah douacanh dee chamana doth kaa Dobra kolka jeejee caiot see fah bai jau dah.> Nor'baal grinned as he picked up a stylus and hovered it over the no-amended document. With their discussions and agreements having been added to the page, he was ready to sign.

<Jee phaba jeejee gee wa bargon, Baphakoha?>

 

[Carrick]

"Daimyo Desilijic - I believe we have an accord."[/B] He tapped a button on the side of his datapad, "One deserving of something to mark the occasion."

A little bit of flattery hurt no one.

The doors to the meeting room opened long enough to admit a protocol droid which shuffled over to where they awaited with two boxes. Firstly, it laid down a box and let Carrick open it. From within he withdrew two pens suitable for signing on holopad and other document devices of that nature. He handed one to the Hutt.

"One of the sets used in the final peace treaty signings between the Empire and the New Republic." he revealed as he signed his name on the revised treaty with a flourish before setting it back in the box and pushing the box towards the Hutt, "A gift in good faith."

The second box opened and the protocol droid poured out a human-sized glass and a Hutt-sized glass of Corellian brandy.

"A toast. To peace at last."

@Nor'baal

 

[Nor'baal Desilijic]

Nor'baal was once again in awe of his talents, for he and he alone had struck a deal with the Consortium, a deal many would have thought impossible. He made a mental note to have one of his palace entertainers draw up plans for a week of celebration, to commemorate his own genius, when he returned to Nal Hutta. Taking the pen when it was offered, he signed his name in Huttese, presenting a squat and ill-mannered scribble onto the page.

Taking the glass as it was offered he squinted and sniffed the liquid.

Poison?

No! Could it be that this half-wit from the Consortium would carry out the textbook 'post-signing murder'? Nor'baal had always wanted to try such an ambitious play himself. But he had never imagined it would be tried on him. Perhaps it was not the Consortium who had placed the obviously poisoned drink into his hands - no, Mordeth! His mind raced, how had she managed to get an assassin here?

Nor'baal shook his head as he studied the liquid. Mordeth was not cunning or capable enough to try to have him murdered, not here, in front of the Consortium.

Unless....

She wanted the deal to fail! A smile crept onto the Hutts' face. It was all so obvious now. The Consortium was in league with his enemies to trick him! To deceive him! Well, it was too late now - the deal was done! Mordeth is damned, the Consortium be damned! Nor'baal would outwit them all!

He downed the glass, banking on a good physician and a hearty Hutt metabolism to see him through this imagined assassinations attempt and said <Baphakoha, uba puohe bla kava bai jiu bu jiu, fa saiot yom doth ba yanay che uba bai jiu gee bo see juju kotky!> he shook the Secretaries hand, and went to leave the room.

With the deal signed, and peace assured, Nor'baal had business on Hutta.